| Bank accounts are considered abandoned if a deposit or
withdrawal is not made over a period of time, generally from one to five
years. This may be true even in cases where CD's (Certificates of
Deposit) automatically "roll-over," because this is not considered to be
owner directed activity. For those who owned
accounts at a branch no longer in existence, the funds
may well have been transferred to a successor bank after
a merger or acquisition.
Even
in the event the bank failed and closed its doors, do not
necessarily assume your funds are lost forever.
Under the terms of the Financial Institutions Reform
Recovery & Enforcement Act of 1989 (FIRREA), the FDIC
administers three insurance funds responsible for
protecting depositors in banks and thrifts from losses
when institutions fail: the Bank Insurance Fund (BIF);
Savings Association Insurance Fund (SAIF); and the FSLIC
Resolution Fund (FRF). FDIC has taken custody of several hundred million
dollars worth of insured accounts over the years, and currently has
files on at least 543,000 unclaimed accounts.
For
assistance tracking down funds from closed banks and
credit unions, or to trace funds lost after a merger or
acquisition go to:
Unclaimed
Bank Account Search
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